An E-Prix or ePrix is a one hour race, which is held on a Formula E weekend, and the equivalent to a Grand Prix in Formula One.[1] Drivers compete in the E-Prix for championship points at each meeting, with the top three receiving trophies for their efforts.[1]
History[]
The first ePrix was held on the 13th of September 2014, held in Beijing, China.[2] The 2014 Beijing ePrix was won by the Brazilian Lucas di Grassi, after Nicolas Prost (who had become the first man to start from pole in an ePrix) crashed out with Nick Heidfeld at the final corner.[2] In the 2014/15 season, the cars would not last the full distance (the batteries only lasting half an hour at full power), meaning drivers had to switch to a second car at each stop.[1]
Five other drivers won the next five ePrix after the historic Beijing bout, before Sébastien Buemi took victory at the 2015 Monaco ePrix.[3] This made the Swiss driver both the first to win two ePrix, but also the first to win from pole position, the latter feat which is yet to have been repeated.[3] Nelson Piquet, Jr. has since won two ePrix, after di Grassi was stripped of the honours at the 2015 Berlin ePrix for using an illegal front wing.
From the start of the 2017/18 season, ePrix were officially renamed E-Prix to better fit the "Formula E" brand.
Format[]
In general, an ePrix is around an hour in length, with the driver's covering around 100 kilometers in that time around a street circuit.[1] Driver's first have to qualify to obtain their starting position (with fastest driver starting from pole, and the slowest from the back), before the start of the ePrix.[1] The cars will then go from a standing start into the ePrix, with the first car to complete the set number of laps taking victory.[1]
The winner receives both a trophy and 25 championship points, with second and third also receiving trophies and points (18 and 15 respectively).[1] Points are awarded to every driver between first and tenth (in order from fourth: 12, fifth: 10, sixth: 8, seventh: 6, eighth: 4, ninth: 2 and tenth: 1), with additional points awarded to the polesitter (3) and the driver who sets the fastest lap (2).[1]
Generation II[]
After the change to the Spark SRT05e, the base car around the Gen 2 formula, the format of E-Prix was changed in order to account for the extended battery life of the new car.[4] From the 2018/19 season onward E-Prix would be staged over 45 minutes + 1 lap, ensuring that teams and drivers would have to adapt their strategies on the fly, as they had no set race distance to cover.[4]
Rules[]
Other than the pointsd system the FIA announced a strict set of rules for ePrixs, many of which apply to other sessions.[1] As of the start of the 2014/15 season, cars cannot be charged during the race, meaning that drivers have to change to a different car during the ePrix itself (the batteries unable to give full power for the full race distance).[1] Cars are restricted to running at 150kw (around 200bhp) during the race, although the three most popular drivers, nominated through the FanBoost concept, are given a temporary five second boost to 180kw (243bhp) to be used once during the race.[1]
From the start of the 2015/16 season, cars will be allowed to run at upto 170kw (228bhp), after Williams Advanced Engineering announced that their developments on the battery systems had proved successful.[5] This means that there will be no extra provided by the powertrains themselves, with the RESS (Rechargable Energy Storage System) input to the powertrain continuing to be restricted at 28kwh.[5]
Honours and Records[]
In Formula E, a perfect weekend could see a driver take 30 points, a combination of victory (25), pole position (3) and fastest lap (2). Below are lists of those who have achieved those feats, although no driver has yet taken all three in a single weekend.
Winners[]
So far in Formula E, seven drivers have taken ePrix victories, including a record six different drivers winning the first six ePrix. Sébastien Buemi became the first driver to achieve two ePrix wins, taking the honours in the 2014 Punta del Este ePrix and the 2015 Monaco ePrix. Buemi also became the first man to earn maximum points, taking pole, fastest lap and victory at the 2015 Beijing ePrix.[6]
Below is the full list of ePrix winners, with the number of wins displayed alongside.
| ePrix Winners* | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Wins | Notes |
 Sébastien Buemi
|
12 | First driver to win two ePrix, and first to win from pole position. |
 Lucas di Grassi
|
8 | First driver to win an ePrix |
 Sam Bird
|
7 | First driver to win their home ePrix. |
 Jean-Éric Vergne
|
5 | 2017/18 FIA Formula E Champion. |
| Nicolas Prost
|
3 | First driver to earn two wins in one weekend. |
 Felix Rosenqvist
|
3 | |
| Nelson Piquet Jr.
|
2 | First FIA Formula E Champion. |
 Jérôme d'Ambrosio
|
2 | Earned both of his ePrix victories after di Grassi was disqualified |
 Daniel Abt
|
2 | |
 António Félix da Costa
|
1 | |
* Correct as of the 2018 New York City E-Prix II.
Fastest Lap[]
The honour of setting the fastest lap in an ePrix is rewarded with two Championship points, meaning that drivers running near the back of the field may still have a chance of taking points. Sam Bird became the first driver to win with fastest lap at the season finale of the 2014/15 Formula E Season, while Sébastien Buemi became the first man to score maximum points with pole, fastest lap and victory at the 2015 Beijing ePrix.[7]
A list of fastest lap setters is shown below:
| Fastest Lap setters* | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | FLs. | Notes |
| Sébastien Buemi
|
7 | Won the 2015/16 Championship by setting fastest lap at the 2016 London ePrix II. |
| Daniel Abt
|
7 | |
| Sam Bird
|
5 | First driver to win and record the fastest lap. |
| Nelson Piquet Jr.
|
4 | First driver to claim a second fastest lap award. |
| Nicolas Prost
|
3 | |
| Felix Rosenqvist
|
3 | |
| Lucas di Grassi
|
3 | |
| Loïc Duval
|
2 | |
| Maro Engel
|
2 | |
 Takuma Sato
|
1 | First driver to earn a fastest lap at an ePrix |
 Jaime Alguersuari
|
1 | First driver to finish in the points and claim fastest lap |
| Jean-Éric Vergne
|
1 | |
| Jérôme d'Ambrosio
|
1 | |
| Nick Heidfeld
|
1 | |
| Bruno Senna
|
1 | |
 Mitch Evans
|
1 | |
 José María López
|
1 | |
| André Lotterer
|
1 | |
* Correct as of the 2018 New York City E-Prix II.
Qualifying[]
For more information on Qualifying, head to the Qualifying article.
As mentioned above, only one driver has taken both pole position and victory in the same ePrix race day. Qualifying is also the only time when the cars run at their maximum power output (200kw/270bhp) for a sustained period of time (two flying laps).
To see the list of pole sitters, and more information about them, head to the Qualifying article, which also contains a full explanation of the rules.
Additional Feats[]
Alongside victory, a driver may achieve two other feats during an E-Prix, depending on the manner of their victory.
Hattrick[]
A hattrick is achieved by a driver who claims pole position, victory and fastest lap in an E-Prix. Several drivers have achieved hattricks during their FE careers, with Sébastien Buemi the first to do so with victory at the 2015 Beijing ePrix.[8]
Grand Slam[]
A Grand Slam is achieved when a driver not only claims pole position, fastest lap and victory, but also leads every lap during the race. Daniel Abt was the first driver to secure a Grand Slam victory in FE history, having led every lap of the 2018 Berlin E-Prix[9]. António Félix da Costa was the second driver to secure a Grand Slam victory in FE history, having led every lap of the 2020 Berlin E-Prix I.[10] It would take until the 2022 London E-Prix I for the feat to be achieved for only the third time, as Jake Dennis swept to a dominant win on home soil.[11]
List of E-Prix[]
Below is a list of all E-Prix to have been staged along with additional statistics:
Records[]
Listed below are the current E-Prix records for the FIA Formula E World Championship:*
- Fastest Race (Speed) - 2024 Portland E-Prix I (152.042 km/h)
- Fastest Race (Time) - 2024 Portland E-Prix I (34:00.097)
- Furtest Distance - 2024 Berlin E-Prix I (107.870 km)
- Most Wins - Lucas di Grassi/Sébastien Buemi (13)
- Slowest Race (Speed) - 2023 London E-Prix II (35.459 km/h)
- Slowest Race (Time) - 2023 London E-Prix II (2:13:56.532)
- Shortest Distance - 2019 Paris E-Prix (61.440 km)
* Correct as of the 2025 London E-Prix II.
References[]
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 'Rules & Regulations: ePrix', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 2015), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/guide/rules-and-regs.aspx, (Accessed 19/07/2015)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 'Lucas di Grassi snatches win after dramatic last corner crash', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 13/09/2014), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2014/september/lucas-di-grassi-snatches-win-after-dramatic-last-corner-crash.aspx, (Accessed 30/04/2015)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 'Poleman Buemi doubles up', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 09/05/2015), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/may/poleman-buemi-doubles-up.aspx, (Accessed 12/06/2015)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lewis Larkam, 'Piquet: New FE race format will force drivers to ‘think more’', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 11/10/2018), https://www.crash.net/fe/news/907492/1/piquet-new-fe-race-format-will-force-drivers-think-more, (Accessed 30/11/2018)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 'Race mode power hike for season two', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 11/09/2015),http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/september/race-mode-power-hike-for-season-two.aspx, (Accessed 11/09/2015)
- ↑ 'Buemi to the max in Beijing', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 24/10/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/october/buemi-wins-swusp-beijing-eprix.aspx, (Accessed 25/10/2015)
- ↑ 'Bird hails ‘unbelievable’ end to season', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 28/06/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/bird-hails-unbelievable-end-to-season.aspx, (Accessed 28/06/2015)
- ↑ 'Buemi to the max in Beijing', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 24/10/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/october/buemi-wins-swusp-beijing-eprix.aspx, (Accessed 25/10/2015)
- ↑ https://www.motorsport-magazin.com/formele/news-247293-formel-e-berlin-2018-warum-daniel-abts-sieg-so-historisch-war/
- ↑ 'Da Costa takes imperious win amid draining Berlin drama', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 05/08/2020), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2020/august/berlin-round-6-race, (Accessed 05/08/2020)
- ↑ 'Dennis dominant on way to SABIC London E-Prix Round 13 win as Vandoorne pulls gap in title fight', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 30/07/2022), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2022/july/report-london-e-prix-round-13, (Accessed 30/07/2022)
| Formula E Race day |
|---|
| Timetable |
| Practice • Qualifying • E-Prix |
| Features |
| Regulations • FanBoost • Attack Mode • Safety Car • Flag System • Pit Boost |
| Supports |
| Roborace • Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy • eVillage |